Overcoming Klesha
Talk by Smt. Hansaji J. Yogendra
Tapa (fortitude or penance) is one way to overcome the pain-giving tendencies or Kleshas in us. Now Tapa can be done only by those persons who have some physical and mental strength. Tapa is not possible for a weak person because one has to forcibly throw the weaknesses out.
If a weak person is forced to remain hungry, he would get into physical and emotional disturbances very soon. Or, if a weak person is forced to keep quiet, he would be burning inside and ultimately get into some disease. So, Tapa is not for weaklings, but for those who have now understood the path of self-development and want to change themselves.
Tapa, as I told you, is for removing hurdles from your path. When a person does Tapa, it is for a purpose. For example, if you have a weakness for chocolates and you want to get rid of this weakness, you do Tapa. You decide that you will not eat chocolates. But if somebody brings chocolates in the house, you see them, smell them, and you feel like eating them. But you control yourself because you have decided not to eat them. Now observe this emotional and mental struggle within you; watch how uneasy you become for just a little thing. Now Tapa just by itself makes no sense. When a person does Tapa, he has to do Svādhyāya (self - study) also. A person has to watch himself, find out how weak or strong he is, how much of a disturbance arises in him, how he tries to express his emotion - constructively or destructively - and so on.
The more a person does this self - study or Svādhyāya, the more he develops strength to overcome his weakness. Svādhyāya makes a person realize how stupid he is, how weak he is, how his entire personality is unbalanced. This realization makes him want to come out of his weakness. This is all possible when the person watches his own suffering.
Many such situations are there in our lives when we control ourselves, when we don’t allow ourselves to loosen. But just control by itself harms us because we are just holding our emotions tight. We want to speak but we control our speech. We mumble inside, curse inside. You are not speaking out; you are speaking inside. So, what happens? The blood pressure shoots high; asthma comes up; allergy comes up; various weaknesses come up. This is because Tapa by itself, without understanding, causes psychosomatic problems.
Q: Would you say that Tapa by itself is merely depression?
Smt. Hansaji: Yes. When a person does Tapa, he does not just have to let go of a thing, he has to reason out, he has to analyse how and why the weakness came in; he has to understand that well. If we do this, Tapa along with Svādhyāya, then a new path starts. Otherwise, it would be suppression, depression and disease.
Tapa (fortitude or penance) is one way to overcome the pain-giving tendencies or Kleshas in us. Now Tapa can be done only by those persons who have some physical and mental strength. Tapa is not possible for a weak person because one has to forcibly throw the weaknesses out.
If a weak person is forced to remain hungry, he would get into physical and emotional disturbances very soon. Or, if a weak person is forced to keep quiet, he would be burning inside and ultimately get into some disease. So, Tapa is not for weaklings, but for those who have now understood the path of self-development and want to change themselves.
Tapa, as I told you, is for removing hurdles from your path. When a person does Tapa, it is for a purpose. For example, if you have a weakness for chocolates and you want to get rid of this weakness, you do Tapa. You decide that you will not eat chocolates. But if somebody brings chocolates in the house, you see them, smell them, and you feel like eating them. But you control yourself because you have decided not to eat them. Now observe this emotional and mental struggle within you; watch how uneasy you become for just a little thing. Now Tapa just by itself makes no sense. When a person does Tapa, he has to do Svādhyāya (self - study) also. A person has to watch himself, find out how weak or strong he is, how much of a disturbance arises in him, how he tries to express his emotion - constructively or destructively - and so on.
The more a person does this self - study or Svādhyāya, the more he develops strength to overcome his weakness. Svādhyāya makes a person realize how stupid he is, how weak he is, how his entire personality is unbalanced. This realization makes him want to come out of his weakness. This is all possible when the person watches his own suffering.
Many such situations are there in our lives when we control ourselves, when we don’t allow ourselves to loosen. But just control by itself harms us because we are just holding our emotions tight. We want to speak but we control our speech. We mumble inside, curse inside. You are not speaking out; you are speaking inside. So, what happens? The blood pressure shoots high; asthma comes up; allergy comes up; various weaknesses come up. This is because Tapa by itself, without understanding, causes psychosomatic problems.
Q: Would you say that Tapa by itself is merely depression?
Smt. Hansaji: Yes. When a person does Tapa, he does not just have to let go of a thing, he has to reason out, he has to analyse how and why the weakness came in; he has to understand that well. If we do this, Tapa along with Svādhyāya, then a new path starts. Otherwise, it would be suppression, depression and disease.